KEN KENWORTHY — A LIFE WELL LIVED
Boot Campers are more than just clients or customers to me. Ken Kenworthy was my buddy, but he was also my older brother. From our very beginning in 1999, members of our little group have been family to me and Ken was one of my bros.
When we were at the U of M, I referred to him as “The Weatherman” because he always knew when we could stay outside on the basketball court and when we should go to the parking garage because it was about to rain. (Must have been his Eagle Scout-ness and over 30 years of Scouting that gave him such good weather instincts.) If he said we could stay on the court, it didn’t rain. If he said that we needed to go to “Mt. Fuji,” it rained shortly after we got under cover. He was always right.
Ken was instrumental in putting together the care packages we sent to my son Matthew (U.S. Marines) when the war in Iraq started in 2003 and the guys over there had nothing. Our troops needed everything from chapstick to wet wipes, from Gatorade to toothbrushes and toothpaste, and on and on the list of needs went.
Ken was one of the first to insist that Boot Camp do something. At the time, I had felt like maybe I shouldn’t take advantage of the generosity of The Battalion, that it was presumptuous on my part to use the platform I have with Boot Camp to meet the needs of my own son and his fellow Marines; Marines at the “tip of the spear” in that mad dash to Baghdad to oust Saddam. Ken countered my misgivings by telling me that Matthew was “ours” not just “mine.” And along with several others in The Battalion, he convinced me to allow my “Boot Camp family” to do something to support “their” extended family member in Iraq. So they put together three different packages of creature comfort items for Matthew and the other guys in his unit, because Ken said it should be done.
After Ken had been in The Battalion (his favorite reference to boot camp) for two years, I presented him with a plaque commemorating his promotion to “Corporal.” That morning, with everyone standing tall and attentive, I called his name and he marched up to the front of everyone to receive his plaque from me. When I handed him the $7 plaque, he had tears in his eyes and was as grateful as if he’d received the Silver Star. Ken’s wife told me how much he treasured that plaque and had it on his wall in his office, a wall covered in awards and professional recognitions. Ken was one of the most accomplished and recognized leaders in his field and his contributions to the community and his leadership in his church are widely known. His awards included being chosen one of the most outstanding attorneys in the country. And yet … he treasured a $7 plaque given for his participation in Boot Camp!
Boot Campers are my brothers and my sisters and losing Ken is a family loss.
The respect and admiration that Ken enjoyed as an attorney within the legal community were well deserved. You can read his obituary to see just a portion of the impact he made professionally (http://www.legacy.com/CommercialAppeal/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=86786396). And the love and friendship that he received from everyone who knew him were exactly what you’d expect. His was a life well lived.
May we all live so well.
Tony
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